“I’m here to predict to you that there will not be sequestration, that a last-minute deal will be struck so as to avert children starving, or the Pentagon shutting down or whatever the panic, crisis, theory the Democrats use. The Republicans will cave and there will not be a sequester. Isn’t that the way this stuff usually happens?” Rushbo

“Washington’s Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and concurrent with Presidents’ Day. Washington’s Birthday is commonly referred to as Presidents’ Day (sometimes spelled President’s Day). Both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays are in February.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington’s_Birthday

February 18th

1735: The first opera performed in America, Flora, or Hob in the Well, was presented in Charleston, South Carolina.”

1841: The first continuous filibuster began in the Senate and lasted until March 11.

1885: The first American edition of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published.

1977: The first space shuttle, Enterprise, took its maiden test flight, attached to the top of a Boeing 747.

“The Mayor and Borough Council are meeting to pass the attached Gun Control Resolution.

“These types of laws, ordinances, resolutions, etc. have only one final result. That is to

eliminate your right to keep and bear arms as a law abiding citizen of the United States of America.

“Everyone is urged to attend this meeting in Oxford Borough to fight for our rights.

Don’t think these constant attacks on our liberties and freedoms by our government officials will never affect you personally because, in every case throughout history, they always did and they always will!”

Jeff Poor, Daily Caller: “McCain concedes Hagel will be confirmed”

“. . . McCain said that he expected a vote on Hagel when Senate reconvenes next week, but made it clear he would not be supporting him.

“‘I understand the White House wanted a vote,’ he said. ‘They got a vote, and we will have a vote when we get back, and I am confident that Sen. Hagel will probably have the votes necessary to be confirmed as the secretary of defense. We have an obligation of advice and consent. I don’t intend to give those up when other senators continue to have reasonable questions — and I mean reasonable.’

“‘I don’t believe he is qualified, but I don’t believe we should hold up his nomination any further. I think it is a reasonable amount of time to have questions answered,’ McCain added. ‘Not two days worth.’

“The White House confirms today that President Barack Obama will be vacationing in Florida this weekend. His wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in Colorado. The two daughters will be with Michelle. . .”

James Taranto, WSJ: “Critical Condition”

“When we saw the headline “Four Ways ObamaCare Could Still Fail,” our reaction was that it sounded like an unrealistically low estimate. But we were intrigued enough to read the article because of the source: TalkingPointsMemo.com, a news site with a strong (and acknowledged) liberal Democratic slant. Its framing as friendly criticism makes the piece, by congressional reporter Sahil Kapur, a powerful indictment of ObamaCare.

“. . . Kapur’s argument amounts to the following: Democrats passed a law that had and still has insufficient public support (points 1 and 4), that cannot achieve its goals without unconstitutional means (point 2), that did not allocate the necessary resources to accomplish its objectives (point 3), and that lacks and still lacks even minimal support across the political aisle (all four points).

“That sounds very much like the conservative critique of ObamaCare. . .”

“. . . Mr. Hagel, a former senator from Mr. Cruz’s own party, was about to be the victim of the first filibuster of a nominee to lead the Pentagon. The blockade was due in no small part to the very junior senator’s relentless pursuit of speeches, financial records or any other documents with Mr. Hagel’s name on them going back at least five years. Some Republicans praised the work of the brash newcomer, but others joined Democrats in saying that Mr. Cruz had gone too far.

“Reading the responses to the president’s State of the Union speech by Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rand Paul, one might be fooled into thinking that the regular Republican Party — represented by Rubio — and the Tea Party — represented by Paul — were in agreement on 90% of the issues facing the country.

“On the surface, there is much truth to that idea. But the differences between establishment Republicans and conservative activists go far beyond where each side stands on the issues of the day. The cleavage starts with differences in temperament, and extends to matters of the heart: passion, commitment, and feelings of resentment and betrayal that currently make a marriage between the two wings of the Republican Party impossible to achieve.

“There are also differences in vision. Rubio’s pragmatic view of Washington is in conflict with Paul’s more combative outlook on the role of government in society. And on the specific issue of the sequester, Rubio takes the mainstream Republican position that other cuts can be substituted — especially for defense spending — while Paul is of a mind to allow the $1.2 trillion in cuts to stand, even if it means degrading our military capabilities.

“Instead of convergence, you have divergence. Instead of unity, you have the real possibility of an all-out civil war that has the potential to blow up Republican chances to maintain control of the House and take control of the Senate in 2014. Beyond that, unless some way can be found to heal the rift, a serious effort to run a third-party candidate for president in 2016 is on the horizon — especially if another “moderate” candidate is chosen by establishment Republicans. . .”

On Feb. 8, Investor’s Business Daily editorial writer Andrew Malcolm penned a piece about the Department of Homeland Security amassing what he called “sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times –including illegal immigrants,” or more than 1.6 billion bullets.

Bob Unruh, WND: “TEXAS PREPS FOR GOING IT ALONE”

“Proposal considers collapse of U.S. and how Lone Star state would survive

“Texas was its own nation before joining the United States, and many jokes have been made about some Texans still not recognizing that “other government” with which it now is affiliated.

But lawmakers there are drawing attention by considering a law that would have Texas review how it would respond should the U.S. government no longer be there to send federal tax revenue back to the state.

The plan, HB 568, has been introduced by Rep. James White, who said in a statement Texas Self-Sufficiency Act “creates a select committee to evaluate the effects of a possible reduction in or elimination of federal funding on the state budget due to federal fiscal policy.”

“Due to the fiscal dysfunction of Washington, D.C., and the fact that more than a third of our state’s budget revenue comes from the federal government, Texas needs to study what it would mean if the federal government couldn’t meet its obligations,” he said. . .”

LEADS . . .

Meghan Check, Politics PA: “Voter ID Not Required For May Primary”

“Lawyers involved in the pending Voter ID lawsuit decided Thursday that Pa. voters will not need to show ID as a condition for voting in the May primary on the grounds that the court has not yet ruled on the measure.

“The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of requiring already registered voters to provide a government issued photo ID to election officials prior to voting.

“The May primary will therefore follow the model of the November election. Local election officials may ask voters to show ID but cannot prohibit them from voting if they decline to show documentation.

“The constitutionality of the law is expected to be decided in a state Commonwealth Court trial scheduled to begin on July 15th. . . “

“‘We‘ve not proposed anything to Capitol Hill yet,’ McDonough said on ABC’s This Week. “‘We’ve got a bill, we’re doing exactly what the president said we would do last month in Las Vegas, which is we’re preparing. We’re going to be ready. We have developed each of these proposals so we have them in a position so that we can succeed. . .’”

“The backbone of President Obama’s health care law is taking shape, with 26 states choosing to let the federal government run the online insurance markets mandated by his signature reforms instead of keeping the job in-house or partnering with the feds.

“The exchanges, which are designed to let those without employer-based insurance compare and buy plans with the help of tax credits, are a crucial part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that passed in 2010 and was largely upheld by the Supreme Court in June. States that wanted to run a partnership exchange with the federal government had to let HHS know by late Friday, ending months or even years of debate among governors and state lawmakers.

“Their discussions marked one of two major decisions under “Obamacare.” Whether or not to expand Medicaid within their borders is the other, and it remains a source of contention in state capitals across the country.

“The Obama administration says it will be ready to run exchanges in more than half of the states, even though a bevy of Republican governors and lawmakers flouted their intentions by saddling them with the task. . .”

“Sen. Rand Paul, reacting to a new “amnesty”-based immigration plan being circulated by the White House, said Sunday that Democrats really don’t want to solve the country’s immigration problem because it’s a politically valuable wedge issue for the party.

“‘This is the president torpedoing his own plan. It shows me that he’s really not serious,’ Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“‘There are many people who think Democrats bring up these ideas as wedge issues, they don’t really ever want to pass them because then they would no longer have the Republicans to blame. They set themselves up for failure by putting something up there that’s untenable.

“‘It seems to me to show that really the president doesn’t want immigration reform.’

The new White House proposal, which surfaced this weekend, would create a new visa for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States and allow them to become legal permanent residents within eight years.

Bennett & Rubin, LA Times: “Drones are taking to the skies in the U.S.”

“WASHINGTON — While a national debate has erupted over the Obama administration’s lethal drone strikes overseas, federal authorities have stepped up efforts to license surveillance drones for law enforcement and other uses in U.S. airspace, spurring growing concern about violations of privacy.

“The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it had issued 1,428 permits to domestic drone operators since 2007, far more than were previously known. Some 327 permits are still listed as active.

“Operators include police, universities, state transportation departments and at least seven federal agencies. The remotely controlled aircraft vary widely, from devices as small as model airplanes to large unarmed Predators.

“The FAA, which has a September 2015 deadline from Congress to open the nation’s airspace to drone traffic, has estimated 10,000 drones could be aloft five years later. . .”

“A brief moment on Wednesday showed why President Obama can’t win when it comes to the Keystone XL pipeline. In front of the White House, protesters led by actress Daryl Hannah and the head of the Sierra Club demanded that Obama kill the project. Just a few blocks away, the head of the AFL-CIO’s powerful Building and Construction Trades Department joined with the American Petroleum Institute to demand that Obama approve it.

“Obama’s friends in the environmental movement and Hollywood on one side. Obama’s friends in Big Labor allied with his enemies in Big Oil on the other. What’s a Democratic president to do?

“Both sides were unhappy that Obama, who took the time to talk about wind power, solar power, fuel efficiency, global warming and all sorts of other related topics in his State of the Union speech, did not mention Keystone at all. Not a single word. . .”

Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald: “States fall for Medicaid trap”

“Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform disclosed how state officials in New York scammed federal taxpayers out of billions of dollar by exploiting the Medicaid system.

“The federal government matches dollar for dollar what a state spends on Medicaid. New York spends $5,118 per day per patient in state facilities for the mentally disabled, equivalent to $1.9 million a year per patient. “Personal care” for the home bound is a New York Medicaid benefit that includes grocery shopping and housekeeping, and it costs as much as $150,000 a year per recipient. Overall, New York spends more on Medicaid than the two most populous states in the U.S. — California and Texas — combined and hauls in more matching federal funds.

“The congressional committee is calling for a federal investigation of New York’s Medicaid spending. But this isn’t just a New York problem.

“The bigger culprit is the Medicaid matching rule, which invites abuse. It lays out a red carpet even for politicians who are otherwise inclined to be honest stewards of taxpayers’ money. And the problem is about to get much worse because the Obama health law lures states to loosen their Medicaid eligibility rules and expand enrollment by promising the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of the expansion until 2018, and then 90 percent of the cost thereafter. That’s a 9 to 1 match. . .”

“I’m also issuing a new goal for America,” declared President Obama at his “State of the Union” on Tuesday. We’ll come to the particular “goal” he “issued” momentarily, but before we do, consider that formulation: Did you know the president of the United States is now in the business of “issuing goals” for his subjects to live up to?

“ . . . The president gives a performance, extremely animatedly, head swiveling from left-side prompter to right-side prompter, continually urging action now: “Let’s start right away. We can get this done. … We can fix this. … Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to get it done.” And at the end of the speech, nothing gets done, and nothing gets fixed, and, after a few days’ shadowboxing between admirers and detractors willing to pretend it’s some sort of serious legislative agenda, every single word of it is forgotten until the next one.

In that sense, like Beyoncé lip-synching the National Anthem at the Inauguration, the State of the Union embodies the decay of America’s political institutions into a simulacrum of responsible government rather than the real thing, and a simulacrum ever more divorced from the real issues facing the country. . .”

GUNS

“In his State of the Union address, President Obama doubled down on his gun-control proposals, again demanding that Congress ban so-called “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines.” This is not a surprise. What has been a surprise are the increasingly open calls for defiance from gun owners, state legislatures, and local law enforcement. If the president’s proposals become law, he may move the country into turbulent waters we haven’t seen in many years.

Gun control has long been a controversial issue in American politics. However, there are three aspects to this issue that make this more volatile than other hot topics such as taxes, foreign policy, or abortion:

1) The strongest advocates of each side hold fundamentally irreconcilable positions.

On one hand, committed gun-control advocates say: “No one should be allowed to own certain weapons.” On the other hand, equally committed gun-rights advocates say: “No way in hell are we giving up these weapons.”

2) Ordinary Americans have declared their willingness to disobey the law.

New York state has already passed laws similar to Obama’s proposals. Gun owners there are now organizing a campaign of open civil disobedience, daring state officials to “come and take” their rifles. State officials already acknowledge that they will be unable to enforce the new law.

3) Local law enforcement officials and state governments have also vowed civil disobedience.

Drew Zahn, WND:”. . . Enough Bullets for ’24 year war’

“Federal, non-military agencies, noted radio host Mark Levin last week, have purchased enough ammunition recently to not only shoot every American five times, but also engage in a prolonged, domestic war.

“The numbers are based on recent reports that put the total federal ammunition buy in the last 10 months at approaching two billion rounds.

“‘To provide some perspective,’ Levin noted, ‘experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, the [Department of Homeland Security] is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war. A 24-year Iraq war!’

“The staggering number and lack of details in the official explanation, however, has led to rampant speculation, including concerns the DHS is arming itself to fight off insurrection among Americans

“I’m going to tell you what I think is going on,” Levin offered. “I don’t think domestic insurrection. Law enforcement and national security agencies, they play out multiple scenarios. … I’ll tell you what I think they’re simulating: the collapse of our financial system, the collapse of our society and the potential for widespread violence, looting, killing in the streets, because that’s what happens when an economy collapses.

“I suspect that just in case our fiscal situation, our monetary situation, collapses, and following it the civil society collapses, that is the rule of law, they want to be prepared,” Levin said. “I know why the government’s arming up: It’s not because there’s going to be an insurrection; it’s because our society is unraveling.”

Sign up for our newsletter!

CATS is a conservative publication, almost free of advertising, and has appeared at least three times per week for the last six years. It consists of abstracts from the wider press, links to original sources, and sometimes, remarks by Jim Brody.